HOW TO SUGGEST BOOKS FOR OUR LISTINGS

Most of the online books in our curated collection got added to our lists
after readers suggested them, or told us where they could be found
online. So we welcome reader's suggestions, and hope that we
can help get the books online that readers want to see.

If you'd like to suggest more books for us to include,
here's what to do:

First: Does it qualify for listing here?

We list books on this site that are complete, freely readable in their
entirety online, significant, well-formatted,
and that don't infringe copyright. For full details on our listing
criteria, see
this link. Here are some of the
more important points about our criteria:

We generally can't list copyrighted books unless the copyright
holder has given permission for the book to be online. To determine
whether a book is still copyrighted,
or to pursue permissions if it is, see
this page.

Most self-published works don't get listed here.
Those that have been cataloged by major libraries do, and occasionally
we'll also list particularly significant ones that libraries haven't
picked up.
If you're interested in sites that do
list more self-published electronic-only work, see this listing of archives of
new original works.

Only books that can be read online in their entirety free of charge get listed here.
There are other sites that list information on books for sale; see
this page under "Book Catalogues and Retailers"
to find such sites.

If, after reading our criteria,
you're not sure whether a book qualifies, go ahead and send the
information on it to us, and we'll evaluate it from here.

What should be included in the suggestion?

For books that are already online, we need to know the web
location (also known as the URL)
of the online book. It's also helpful to
include the title and author(s) of the book, and the edition if
applicable. And if you know
or can look up the Library of Congress call number and subjects
of the book, that will help us list it quicker. (If not, we'll
just look them up ourselves after we get your suggestion.)

For books that are already in our extended shelves, just select
the icon by the book
listing, and then select the "request that we add this book" link
on the resulting information page. You'll be taken directly to
our book suggestion form (described below) with the basic book
information already filled out. Make any appropriate corrections
or additions, and press the "Submit" button to register your request
to add the book to our curated collection.

For books not yet online, tell us
the title and the author of the book(s) you want to see, and any
other information necessary for us to figure out what you're
suggesting. (Titles alone may not be enough, since there may
be more than one book with the same title.)

Note that we don't host books at this site, but if you have
an online book that you'd like to find a home for, there are
many online book archives, some of
which accept submissions from the public.
Two long-running free nonprofit sites
that take submissions are Project Gutenberg (good for transcribed forms like HTML or text),
and the Internet Archive (good for PDFs and other image-based forms). If you own the rights
to a book that was commercially published, it might already have a digitization
held by HathiTrust,
who can make it accessible to the public if you
give them permission.
There are lots of other archives take submissions as well, many of which
specialize in particular kinds of books.
Let me know if you need help finding a suitable home.)

How do I send a suggestion?

There are basically three ways to submit books for listing here. In
descending order of preference, they are:

By the suggestion form: We have a
suggestion form that submits your suggestion in a form that we can easily incorporate into
our database, if you've given us enough information. This is generally
the fastest way to get an individual request listed. You can also use
it if you'd like to help us catalog collections more quickly; if you
fill it out completely according to our standards, the suggestion can
be almost instantly merged into our database. For tips on filling
out the form, see this page.

By automated loading: If you have a large collection with an
automated interface that lets us automatically pick out the titles
that qualify for listing here, and has all the cataloging information
we seek, we may be able to automatically merge in listings from
your collection. So far we have only done this with HathiTrust and
Project Gutenberg, which
populate our extended shelves; but we may add more sources in the future.

By email: Submissions by email are considered, but
get lower priority than the submission methods above. (Given the current
size of the suggestion form queue, this means that
submissions by email might not
be acted on for a long time.)
We'd prefer you
use the suggestion form when possible.
(But if you can't use the form above due to a disability, put DISABILITY
in your subject line and we'll try to give it expedited listing.)
The email submission address is onlinebooks@pobox.upenn.edu.
Note that we do not accept book files by email, and will
typically delete such files unread. We link to books online at other
sites, but do not host or handle manuscripts here.

What happens to the suggestion?

If you suggest a title or set of books that qualifies for listing
here, I'll try to act on it as soon as I can. I do have a backlog
that prevents some online books from appearing immediately,
but I will generally give priority to individual titles that readers tell me
they want to see. And if you use the suggestion form, you'll
be able to see exactly how long the backlog is for suggestions
submitted via the form. (This won't tell you how long the backlog
is for emailed suggestions; that can be much longer.)

If you haven't told me an online location for the book, I'll usually
make a quick check to see if someone has already put it online.
If so (or if you've told me where I can find the book online) I'll
add it to my listings, and will generally appear in the listings (including
the New Books list) the evening of the day I list it.

If the book isn't already online, but qualifies for listing here,
I'll put it in my public
requests list. If you've indicated on the suggestion form that you'd like
your contact information included in that list, we'll include your
name and/or email, so we or other folks can inform you when it becomes
available.

We don't actually produce the online books ourselves at this site,
but other people and projects do, and some of them may see
suggestions from this list and decide to put the books online.
I can't guarantee how long it will take before your request goes
online; it may be quite soon, or it may not go online for years.
If you desperately need a copy soon, you may want to get a print
copy through your library (or interlibrary-loan), or through a
bookstore or book ordering service.

You may also decide you'd like to put the book online yourself.
You're welcome to do so if you like, and I'll be happy to list the
book once it's online. See
this page for information on how to put books online.

What about suggestions I emailed previously?

If you sent me a suggestion previously, and it hasn't been listed, and
you haven't otherwise heard from me, you may want to
submit it
again via the suggestion form. We are going through the old
email backlog, but it currently stretches back years, so I'm not
sure when exactly I'll get to your old suggestion. Thank you for
your patience.